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THE YELLOW BEAM OF the flashlight picked up every crimson streak and splash on the floor and walls. Puddles of dark gore and unidentifiable lumpy matter were the only sign of the gang that had chased them. Sky eased the woman among the feasting zombies. He breathed through his mouth, filtering the air through the wad of gum tucked in one cheek. Blood didn’t bother him, but he didn’t like its sickly scent filling his nose either.
Keeping the light pointed in front of him, he listened for the slightest change in the feeding sounds as he negotiated their way to the outer door. The woman made no sound but held his left arm in a grip so painful it would leave bruises. At least she wasn’t making any noise. For now, the zombies were so engrossed in gorging themselves he and his new companion could slip out unnoticed. For now. He didn’t take an easy breath until both of them were in the alley, and the door was closed behind them.
“Are you all right?” He did a quick visual check for cuts and bruises, noting the way her T-shirt pulled across her breasts. He forced his gaze back up to her face.
She wiped her eyes with shaking, dirty hands, leaving a smudge across her cinnamon-colored nose. Her hair was pulled into a haphazard ponytail on the top of her head, and her brown eyes were tired in the late-afternoon light. Behind the dirt, she was a fine-looking woman. And despite himself, he wanted to have a peek at that behind he had felt in the darkness.
“Thank you, I’m fine.” Her voice was rusty, like she hadn’t spoken in a long time. She turned and began walking away. Without looking back, she said, “I appreciate your help. Good luck.”
A few strides, and he caught up with her. “Where are you staying?” he asked.
“I have a place.” She didn’t pause to look at him. “Leave me alone. I thanked you, didn’t I?”
“You have a place around here?”
“Yes, I do.” This time she stopped. “There are plenty of houses around here. You can find your own place.”
Sky glanced around at the unfamiliar neighborhood. If he hadn’t been distracted with saving her ass, he would have had time to scout and find his own place. He didn’t like it that she didn’t have the heart to offer him at least one night’s stay, but he understood. Given the way some people acted after the outbreak, having a heart could get you murdered.
“Look.” He put a hand on her arm to prevent her from walking away again. “I need a place to stay for one night. Just one.”
She took a step to the side so his hand dropped and gave him the once-over.
“And why should I even trust you?”
“I could have left you back there in the alley with those thugs.” Manipulation didn’t come easy to him, but he needed a place to stay. “Or with the zombies.”
The woman bit at her bottom lip as she considered. “Your point is taken.” She nodded. “One night. You be gone in the morning.”
“Deal.” He held out his hand. Might as well shake on it.
She looked at it, wearing a puzzled expression. After a moment, she gave his hand a fast squeeze. “Deal.” She resumed her pace. “Get moving. It’s getting dark.”
Sky followed her, his long strides matching her fast pace. The sky was losing light, and he imagined he heard murmurs and groans from shadowed alleys. He didn’t like being out this time of night. Dusk was when they became more active and were harder to see.
“Are we almost there?” It was like he was carrying cinderblocks on his back. His shoulders screamed for a rest. They had progressed into a residential neighborhood, and he didn’t trust the bushes or decorative fences that could be hiding anything.
“Couple more blocks.” Their feet scraped against the sidewalk. “What’s your name? I’m Judith.” She paused. “You can call me Jude.”
“I’m Sky.”
“Sky?” Her laugh was a soft, ladylike sound that drifted away into the oppressive silence. “Nice to meet you, Sky. I guess I don’t need to shake your hand. I practically gave you a lap dance in the closet.”
Jude explained not many zombies wandered past her house, and she suspected she was the only one staying in the neighborhood. She wasted no words when she spoke, leading him past crashed cars and houses with wide-open doors. The light was fading even more rapidly, hurrying their pace.
* * * *
“WE’RE HERE.” JUDE INDICATED her house with a tired gesture.
Sky played his flashlight over the house. Jude’s place was a tall colonial. The first-floor windows had been nailed over with plywood. The house itself was at the crest of a sloped, overgrown lawn. He was impressed by the natural barrier of hedges lining the side of the driveway as well as the iron gate at the top.
They walked down the driveway toward the garage, where there was a six-foot gate. Behind the gate, which Jude opened with a key she wore around her neck, the backyard was completely enclosed with a decorative concrete wall.
“Take off your pack,” she said, walking along a brick path bordered with overgrown grass. “We’ll bring it in through the basement. You won’t be able to get through the window with it on your back. Plus, we have to climb.”
The fire-escape ladder she indicated looked sturdy enough. He cleared his throat. It couldn’t have been more than twelve or so feet off the ground, but it might as well been fifty. She couldn’t go inside then open the back door for him? On the other hand, did he want to wait outside in the rapidly fading light for her to let him in? Sure, there was the concrete wall, but anything could be roving out there in the dark.
Sky dropped his pack as she requested, and Jude preceded him up the rigging. He followed, his heart pounding in his ears and his mouth dry. Though the ladder had only twelve rungs, it seemed like an eternity before he dragged himself over the sill. He collapsed on the rug, sucking in deep breaths to fight off the rising nausea. Funny he didn’t feel sick while climbing. It was only after he made the mistake of looking down, just before he crawled through the window, he realized how high he was.
Jude pushed the window halfway down. “Are you okay?” She crouched to where he sat on the carpeted floor.
“Fine.” He stood on shaky legs.
She stood at the same time, scrutinizing him in the glow of the lantern. “You’re afraid of heights.”
“A little,” he admitted.
Jude smiled, patted his arm. “The doors are barricaded from the inside, and since I was alone, it was more prudent to use the ladder. But now that there are two of us, we can use the door.”
Now he was really embarrassed. “There’s no need to—”
She waved away his protests. “There’s enough to be afraid of. Let’s eliminate what we can. Take a load off.” She indicated the room they were now in and its chairs, low coffee table, and sofa. “I’m going to wash my hands.”
* * * *
THE SMILE STAYED ON Jude’s face as she walked down the dim hallway. She’d honestly thought Sky was going to pass out. Truth be told, the ladder freaked her out too.
In the bathroom, she turned on the lantern sitting on the back of the useless commode and pumped a bead of liquid soap into her palm. She scrubbed her hands together, then rinsed them in a bucket of fresh water set on the closed toilet lid.
Moving to the mirror, she used a damp finger to remove a smudge on her face, then attempted to smooth her curls into submission. Abandoning the futile task, she pulled a few crinkly strands forward, then stopped, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
Slowly, she lowered her hands from where they had been fussing with her hair. She wasn’t like this, had never been a woman who cared what a man thought about her. She’d had her books, her studies, and her parents. Now she had none of that and didn’t want to lose anything else. Intimacy was the enemy that created wants and needs and desire. Given the way things were going, the natural conclusion to any attempt of intimacy would be sorrow. On the other hand, a quick roll in the hay would be just the thing to break the monotony. She left the bathroom and crossed to her bedroom. Taking off her boots, she pushed the thoughts of physical entertainment to the back of her mind. This was the time to behave like a survivor. This wasn’t a date. She padded down the hallway in her stocking feet to rejoin her guest.
Sky had pulled himself together and was sitting, eyes closed, in one of the wing-back chairs. Her parents had established this room as sort of a sitting area for the second floor, a place to sneak away if either of them couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night. A few weak beams of the full moon filtered through the half-open curtains, casting glowing slivers on the rug.
Was he sleeping? Jude stood in the doorway and allowed her gaze to follow the long lines of his body, from his brand-new hiking boots to the jeans to the inked vines twisting up his forearms. Both of his biceps were more than substantial. She had tried her best to squeeze the blood out of them while maneuvering through the horde of feasting zombies.
Shivering at the memory, she must have made a small noise, because he opened his eyes. Her heart gave a little leap.
Caught staring.
“Is your given name Sky?” To cover her embarrassment, she crossed to the stack of bottled water in the corner, pulled out a bottle, and offered it to him. It was the least she could do.
“Yeah. My mother was—is a modern hippie.” He took the bottle of water and twisted off the cap. “I sure do appreciate you offering me a place here.”
Some color had returned to his face. In the light of the lantern, he had looked pale and sickly after his climb. The short brown beard covering the lower half of his face accentuated the youthfulness of his eyes, as if he were a teenager trying to prove his manliness by growing facial hair. With that body, he doesn’t have a thing to prove. Mentally, she rolled her eyes. You’re being ridiculous.
“How old are you, Sky?” She sat on the floor behind the table opposite him.
“Thirty.”
“Me too,” she offered. “Well, I’ll be thirty in August.” She searched for something else to say. Small talk had never been one of her strengths, and after being alone for so long, she was awkward and self-conscious. “Where are you from?”
“Tennessee, but been in New Jersey more than a couple years. I teach...well, used to teach, science in Newark.”
“A science teacher?” Again, her gaze found the lines that wrapped around his forearms. “They hired you with those tattoos? It looks like you have the Dead Sea Scrolls on your arms.”
“Yeah.” He extended an arm, examined the markings. “I had to wear armbands to cover them when I wore a short-sleeved shirt.”
Jude sat back and took a thoughtful sip from her bottle. “Teachers are a lot cooler than they were when I went to school.” Better-looking too. This time, she smirked at her thoughts.
“What’s funny?”
Unable to wipe the smile from her face, she shook her head once. “You can stay here. I’ve got supplies, and there’s water for washing up.” She plopped her water bottle down as she got up. “Let’s go get your pack.”